Filament winding apparatus



Aug. 17, 1965 c. GUENTHER ETAL FILAMENT WINDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Dec. 21, 1962 Fl .l

INVENTORS CARL GUENTHER DONALD D. ARGUE 1965. c. GUENTHER ETAL.3,201,055

FILAMENT WINDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 21, 1962 FIG. 7

INVENTORS CARL GUENTHER BY 2 DONALD D. ARGUE THEIR ATIORNEY Aug. 17,1965 c. GUENTHER ETAL 3,201,055

FILAMENT WINDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 21, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 as ao 0INVENTORS CARL G-UENTHER DONALD D. ARG-UE THEIR A1TORNEY 1965 c,GUENTHER ETAL- 3,201,055

FILAMENT WINDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 21, 1962 we mw nN R N ENA m VE .l

U T a A l Wh R United States Patent 3,2tlL055 FELAMENT WlNDiNG AKPARATUE Carl Guenther and Donald D. Argue, Shelby ville, ind, assignorsto General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 21,1962, filer. No. 246,639 7 Claims. (Cl. 242-25) This invention relatesto a filament winding apparatus and, and more particularly, to a meansfor accommodating a continuous supply of filament while a full storagespool is being replaced by an empty one without changing the linearspeed of the filament.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No.179,132, filed March 12, 1962, and now abandoned, assigned to the sameassignee as the present application.

\ in many production schemes, a filament is wound on a storage spool asthe final stage in production of the filament. Quite often, the earlierproduction stages require continuous operation without interruption tomaintain a satisfactory filament quality. For example, in a wireenameling process it is imperative that the wire pass through the wireenameling oven at a constant speed. Should the speed vary too greatlyabove or below the desired speed, the quality of the enameling will bebelow the desired standards. Moreover, if the wire is stopped in theoven it may be damaged by the oven heat to the extent that it will haveto be scrapped. The spool which receives and collects the filament as itleaves the oven has a limited capacity and must be replaced by an emptyspool once it becomes full. A problem is encountered in maintaining thecontinunity of filament travel during the period in which the full spoolis being replaced.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a filamentWinding apparatus which will maintain continuity of filament travelduring the period when a full storage spool is being replaced by anempty one.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved meansfor coupling a filament storage spool to its drive shaft.

It is also an object of this invention to provide in a filament windingapparatus an improved means for maintaining proper tension on thefilament during replacement of a full spool.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, afilament winding apparatus is provided with a storage spool to normallyreceive and collect the filament. An accumulator is provided axiallyadjacentthe storage spool to receive and collect the filament during theperiod when a full storage spool is being replaced by an empty one. Thestorage spool and accumulator are mounted on a common drive shaft meansin such a mannor that the storage spool may be removed withoutdisturbance of the accumulator. Clutch means are provided to selectivelyimpart rotary motion to the storage spool or the accumulator. The clutchmeans can also impart rotary motion simultaneously to both the storagespool and the accumulator. A control means allows selective manualoperation of the clutch means. In one embodiment, the drive shaft meansis in the form of a solid shaft carrying the storage spool and aconcentric hollow shaft carrying the accumulator. With the presentinvention, an operator may transfer the, oncoming filament to theaccumulator as the storage spool becomes full. After a few turns of thefilament about the accumulator, the

strand linking the storage spool to the accumulator may Patented Aug.17, M365 'ice replaced by an empty one \m'thout changing the linearspeed of the filament.

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing outand distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as theinvention, :it is believed the invention will be better understood fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a wire enameling systememploying one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the invention takenalong the axis thereof illustrating the spool and accumulator in theposition wherein they are both rotating;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the accumulator in thenon-rotating position;

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the accumulator control handle for theembodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modification of theaccumulator for the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention takenalong the axis thereof on line 6-5 of FIG. 8 showing a large spool and alarge accumulator;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 illustrating the second embodiment ofthe invention employing a small spool and small accumulator;

FIG. 8 is a view of the clutch means associated with the solid shaft forthe filament winding apparatus of the second embodiment as seen fromline 8-8 of FIG. 6 showing the clutch means in the engaged position withthe remaining elements being omitted for clarity;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing the solid shaft clutch meansin the disengaged position;

FIG. 10 is a view of the clutchmeans associated with the hollow shaft,the view being taken along line 1tl-].ll

in PEG. 6 to reveal the engaged position of the hollow shaft clutchmeans, with the remaining elements being omitted for clarity; and

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 showing the hollow shaft clutchmeans in the disengaged position.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, a wire enamelingapparatus is shown as it may be employed to apply an enamel coating tomoving wire filament 5. The filament originates from a supply spool 6and enters an enameling over 7 which heats the filament and applies theappropriate coating thereto. It should be appreciated at this point thatin order to apply a satisfactory coating of enamel to the filament, thefilament must remain in the oven 7 a given length of time. Since theoven 7 is of finite dimensions, the time during which a given element offilament is within the oven is controlled by the speed at which thefilament passes through the oven. For these reasons, the filament mushpass through the oven without interruption to achieve a satisfactoryenameling.

The filament 5, upon leaving the oven 7, advances to a capstan 8 whichcontrols the process speed. The cap stan 8 may, or may not, have acooperating pressure roll it) to help obviate slippage between thefilament 5 and the capstan 8. As the filament 5 leaves the capstan 8, itadvances to a pick-up station shown generally at 11. As the filamentreaches the pick-up station 11, it passes through a tranverse sheave 12which distributes the filament evenly on a storage spool 13. Asschematically illustrated in FIG. 1, the spool 13 is carried by arotating shaft 14 which is driven by an electric motor 15 through a beltdrive as shown.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a fragmentary sectionalview of one embodiment of the invention as may be used at theaforementioned pick-up station 11. It should be noted at this point thatthe shaft 14 may be either vertical as shown in FIG. 1 or horizontal asshown in FIG. 2, as will be more fully discussed hereinafter. The shaft14 has secured thereto for rotation therewith a clutch member 13 whichtakes the form of a dislcnormal to the axis of the shaft 14. The clutchmember 18 has two axially spaced planar friction surfaces 19 and 2t),purposes of which will hereinafter be more fully discussed. The storagespool 13 is carried by the shaft 14 as mentioned earlier; however, thespool 13 has a relatively loose fit with the shaft 14 so as to be freelyremoved from or mounted to the shaft 14. The free end of the shaft 14may be threaded as shown at 21 toreceive a locking collar 22. It shouldbe appreciated at this juncture that the threading shown at 21 could beof any conventional type to prevent axial displacement of the lockingcollar and, in fact, it could consist of simply an annular groove in theshaft which would receive a radially expansible locking collar adaptedto cooperate with the annular groove. A spring 25 is compressed betweenthe locking collar 22 and the end wall 26 of the storage spool 13 tothereby urge the storage spool 13 axially against the friction surface19 of the clutch member 18. The frictional engagement between thefriction surface 19 of the clutch member 18 and the storage spool 13causes the spool to rotate with the shaft 14 As previously mentioned,the arrangement of FIG. 2 employs a horizontal shaft while thearrangement shown in the schematic representation of FIG. 1 employs avertical shaft at the pick-up station. Also, as previously mentioned, alocking collar 22 and a spring 25 are employed on a horizontal shaft forbiasing the storage spool 13 into engagement with the friction surface19 of the clutch member 18. When a vertical shaft is employed, asillustrated in FIG. 1, the locking collar and spring are obviated inthat the Weight of the storage spool 13 is sufiicient to maintain thestorage spool 13 in engagement with the friction surface 19 of clutchmember 13.

As the spool 13 becomes full it is necessary to remove the full spooland replace it with an empty one. However, as discussed earlier, theenameling process cannot be stopped for this purpose. Therefore, it isnecessary to provide. a means for accommodating the filament arriving atthe pick-up station 11 during the time that the spool is being replacedwithout changing the linear speed of the filament. In accordance withthe invention, this problem is solved by providing an accumulator 30which receives and collects the filament during the period when the fullstorage spool is being replaced. The accumulator 30 is carried by asleeve 31 which is mounted on the shaft 14 so as to be free for axialmovement relative thereto. The accumulator 30 has a hub portion 32 whichis secured to the sleeve 31 and, if desired, the accumulator and sleevecould be made integral. One side of the hub portion 32 provides a planarsurface which cooperates with the friction surface 20 of the clutchmember 18 to transmit rotation from the shaft 14 to the accumulator 30.A spring 33 is disposed between a thrust bearing 34- and the 'end of thesleeve 31 to normally urge the hub portion 32 of the accumulator 30 intoengagement with the friction surface 20 of the clutch member 18. Thethrust bearing 34 allows the spring to rotate with the sleeve 31.

An accumulator control handle 37 is mounted for pivotal movement about asupport means 38 which in turn is secured to a frame element 39. Thecontrol handle 37 has a forked configuration which cooperates with anannular groove in the sleeve 31. 7

Referring now to FIG. 4, a detailed illustration of the relationshipbetween the control handle 37 and the annular groove 40 is given. As canbe seen in FIG. 4, the

control handle 37 is forked so that a portion of it is dispo ed on eachside of the shaft 14. A bearing support 4].

is secured to each side of the control handle 37 by welding 'or otherappropriate means or, the bearing support may be formed integral withthe control handle 37. The bear- 7 7 at this time.

ing support 41 has a bore therethrough perpendicular to the axis ofshaft 14. Carried within this bore is a bearing element 43 which isdimensioned to be freely rotatable within the bearing support 41. Theend of the bearing.

element closer to the shaft is of a greater diameter than the bearingsupport bore to prevent the bearing element 43 from moving away from theshaft 14. A locking ring S4 is positioned near the other end of thebearing element to prevent the bearing element 43 from moving within thebearing support 41 toward the shaft 14. In this manner then, the bearingelement 43 is prevented from excessive movement along its own axisrelative to the bearing support 41. The larger diameter end of thebearing element 43 extends into the annular groove ill of the sleeve 31.With this arrangement, as the control handle 3'7 is pivoted about thesupport means 38 against the biasing force of spring 33, the bearingelement 43 will contact the surface of groove 46 As the control handle37 is pivoted further, the sleeve 31 will slide axially along shaft 14carrying with it the accumulator 30 thereby withdrawing the hub portion32 of the accumulator 36 from engagement with the friction surface 2% ofthe clutch member 18. a

FIG. 3 illustrates the accumulator in the decoupled position, i.e.axially separated from the friction surface 19 of the clutch member 18.As will be appreciated, this is the normal position for the accumulatorduring the time that the storage spool 13 is being filled since there isno need for the accumulator 3%) to rotate during this period.

An explanation of the operation of the apparatus as applied to a wireenameling process may be appropriate Initially, an empty spool 13 ismounted on the shaft 14 and, if the arrangement involves a horizontalshaft, the spool is secured thereon in engagement with friction surface19 of clutch member 18 by a spring 25 and a locking collar 22. Theaccumulator control handle 37 is released so that spring 33 forces thehub portion 32 of the accumulator 30 into engagement with frictionsurface 2% of clutch member 18. In addition to its use during theprocess in changing storage spools as more fully explained below, theaccumulator 30 may also be used during the start-up period of the wireenameling apparatus. During start-up, a wire filament 5 is threadedthrough the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, except that the filament 5 isthreaded over a stationary sheave 45 which directs it toward theaccumulator 30 to which the filament is secured. The electric motor 15is then energized along with the individual components of the apparatusshown in FIG. 1. The apparatus continues to operate in this fashionuntil process stabilization is achieved within the oven 7. In otherwords, this operation is continued until the filament 5 reaching thepick-up station 11 is within acceptable standards with regard to theenamel coating thereon. I Once the filament has achieved thesestandards, the operator moves the filament from the stationaryaccumulator sheave 45 and places it on the traverse sheave 12 whichguides the filament onto the storage spool 13. After the filament hasmade a few turns around the spool 13, the filament linking theaccumulator and the spool is cut and the accumulator is withdrawn fromengagement with clutch member 18 by means of the accumulator controlhandle 37.

This arrangement is maintained until the storage spool 13 becomes fullwhereupon the accumulator 3t) isagain engaged with clutch member 18 byreleasing the accumulator control handle 37 to thereby allow spring 33tourge the accumulator 30 into engagement with the clutch member 18. Theoperator thentransfers the filament 5 from In some circumstances it isdesirable to employ a torque motor as the electric motor for driving theshaft 14. With this arrangement a specific torque is applied to theshaft 14 and the shaft speed is dependent upon the tension in thefilament 5 between the spool and the capstan 8. With this in mind, it isrealized that when the filament is transferred from the outside surfaceof the accumulator to the small diameter of an empty spool, there willbe a period of time during which the shaft speed will increase to applythe proper tension on the filament 5 between the capstan and the spool.With this arrangement, during this period of time the operator holds thefilament until the spool gains speed to prevent the extra length offilament between the capstan and the spool from becoming tangled.

FIG. 5 illustrates a modification of the accumulator which helps toobviate this problem of excess filament during the period of timetheshaft speed is increasing to absorb the extra length of filament. Thestructure shown in FIG. 5 is essentially the same as that in FIG. 2 withthe exception that the accumulator 47 is stepped radially inward towardthe spool and the central portion of the spool has an increaseddiameter. With this arrangement, it is possible to transfer the filamentfrom the full spool to the surface 49 of accumulator 47 which isessentially of the same diameter as a full spool. The operator can thengradually move the filament toward the storage spool a step at a time tothereby gradually absorb the excess filament which results from thediminishing diameters. The surface 54? of the accumulator 47 has adiameter essentially equal to the diameter of an empty spool so that thefilament may be transferred from surface 50 to the empty spool withessentially no accumulation of excess filament. It should be noted thatto transfer the filament from the surface 54 to empty spool 4-8 willrequire a slight excess length of filament so that the filament may beraised over the end wall 52.

An alternative to the modification of FIG. 5 could take the form of anaccumulator essentially the same as that shown in FIG. 2 except that thediameter of the accumulator would be of some lesser diameter than theperipheral diameter of a full spool.

Thus far the accumulator 3% has been described as being normally urgedtoward the friction surface 29 of the clutch member 13 by spring 33. Itwill be appreciated that a spring could be arranged to normally urge theaccumulator 30 away from the clutch member 18 with the control handle 37being employed to overcome this spring force or the accumulator 3h couldbe used with no spring at all. Both of these arrangements are clearlywithin the scope of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a second embodiment of the invention is shownemploying a storage spool 13 identical to that employed in theaforementioned embodimerit. a disk. 56 secured thereto to rotatetherewith. The disk as has a plurality of angularly spaced tapped holeseach of which receives a screw 57. The plurality of screws 57 secure alarger disk 59 to the disk 56. The larger disk 59 provides a planarfriction surface which cooperates with the end wall of of the storagespool 13 to impart the rotary motion of the larger disk 59 to thestorage spool 13. The frictional cooperation between the larger disk 59and the end wall of is assisted by a spring 61 which exerts an axialforce on the storage spool 13 toward the disk 59. The spring 61 issecured in position by a locking collar 62 which is similar to thelocking collar 22 as shown in FIG. 2.

Shaft is supported by bearings 64- and 65 and receives a friction wheel66 at the shaft end opposite the locking collar 62. The friction wheel66 is secured to shaft 55 by suitable means (not shown) which allow theremoval of friction wheel on from shaft 55 but which insure that shaft55 rotates with friction wheel 66 when friction wheel 66 is assembled onshaft 55'.

The spool 13 is carried by a shaft 55 which has 6 An accumulator 63 iscarried by a hollow shaft 69 and is secured thereto by a plurality ofscrews 70. The hollow shaft 69 is supported by bearings 71 and 72 whichallow the rotary movement of the shaft 69. A friction Wheel 74 issecured to shaft 69 near the end opposite the accumulator 63, and issecured thereto in a manner simi lar to the friction wheel 455 on shaft55. The bearings 71 and 72 are supported by a frame member 75.

A driver motor '76 is secured to the frame '75 by means of a pluralityof bolts 77. The motor shaft 79 carries a friction wheel which issecured to the shaft 79 to rotate therewith.

Referring now to FIGS. 8, 9, 10, and ll, the clutch means forselectively operating either the storage spool or the accumulator isshown. With respect to FIGS. 8 and 9, in particular, a friction idler $1is employed to transmit the rotary motion of the friction wheel 88 tothe friction wheel as when in the position shown in FIG. 8. The frictionidler 81 is carried by a short shaft 82 which is supported by trunnion33 so as to be freely rotatable relative thereto. The trunnion 83 iscantilevered from shaft and is secured thereto by any suitable meanssuch as welding. The shaft 85 is supported by bearing as which issecured to, or may be integral with, frame 87. Shaft 35 is provided withaxially-spaced notches 8? and 9% which cooperate with a spring loadeddetent 91 to secure shaft 85 in either of two selected positions. Shaft52$ may be square in cross-section or longitudinally splined to preventrotation relative to bearing 8%. A knob 92 is provided at the end ofshaft 85 to facilitate the axial movement of shaft 85 by the operator.

Pi-G. 9 shows the arrangement of FIG. 8 when the friction idler 81 is inthe disengaged position, i.e., out of engagement with friction wheel 80and friction wheel 6'5. in this position, the spring loaded detent $1 isin the notch as.

FIG. 8, as mentioned above, is a view taken along the line Ei-$ of FIG.6. For this reason, the clutch means which interconnect friction wheel74 with friction wheel t are hidden and are shown in FIGS. 10 and ll.The clutch means associated with the hollow shaft 6?, interconnectingfriction wheels '74 and fiti, as illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11, isidentical to that already described in connection with FIGS. 8 and 9.Thus, in FIGS. 10 and 11 similar parts are identified by the samenumerals as employed in FIGS. 8 and 9. The operation of the illustratedclutch means associated respectively with shafts 55 and 69 is the sameand no further description of FIGS. 10 and 11 will be set out. As can beseen in FIG. 6, friction wheel 8th has an axial dimension sufficient tointercept the planes in which both friction wheel 66 and friction wheel74 lie. It should be noted, however, that since individual clutch meansare provided for each of the friction Wheels and '74, the accumulator 58and the storage spool 13 may be individually rotated independent of theother.

FIG. 7 illustrates the adaptability of the arrangement shown in FIG. 6to the employment of a small diameter storage spool 95. In order toaccommodate the small diameter storage spool 95, it is only necessary toremove two elements from the arrangement shown in FIG. 6, viz., thelarger disk 5% and the accumulator 68. As discussed earlier, the largerdisk 59 is secured to disk 56 by a plurality of screws 57 which may beeasily removed. The accumulator 63 is secured to the hollow shaft 69 bya plurality of screws 75 which can also be easily removed. The hollowshaft 69 has a peripheral configuration including a peripheral slot orgroove 6%, at the end near the storage spool, which is similar to theperipheral configuration of the accumulator es. The peripheralconfiguration of the hollow shaft 6% serves the same function, when asmall storage spool 95 is employed, as the accumulator 68 when a largestorage spool 13 is employed. The disk Sdserves to frictionally transmitrotary motion from the shaft 55 to the small storage spool 95 in 1 amanner similar to the transmission of rotary motion between the largerdisk 59 and the large storage spool 13.

As will be evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects ofthe invention are not limited to the particular details of theconstruction of the example illustrated, and it is contemplated thatvarious and other modifications or applications will occur to thoseskilled in the art. It is, therefore, intended that the appended claimsshall cover such modifications and applications as do not depart fromthe true spirit and scope of the invention. Having thus described theinvention, what is claimed is:

1. Filament winding apparatus comprising:

(a) drive shaft means,

(b) a storage spool mounted on said shaft means for receiving andstoring a continuously moving filament, said spool being removable fromsaid shaft means for replacement by an empty spool,

(c) an accumulator mounted on said shaft means axially adjacent saidstorage spool for receiving said filament during the removal andreplacement of said spool, and

(d) disengageable drive means for selectively imparting rotary motion tosaid accumulator or said storage spool, said disengageable drive meanshaving first and second rotary motion transmitting means engageable withsaid drive shaft means for transmitting rotary motion to said driveshaft means and respectively to said storage spool and to saidaccumulator, said first and second rotary motion transmit ting meansbeing individually connectahle in driving relation to said drive shaftmeans on the side of said accumulator disposed axially away from saidstorage spool, with said first and secondary rotary motion transmittingmeans rotating and stopping respectively said storage spool andaccumulator independently of one another.

2. Filament winding apparatus comprising:

(a) drive shaft means comprising:

(1) a hollow cylindrical shaft mounted for rotary movement, and

(2) a solid cylindrical shaft mounted within said hollow shaft for freerotary movement relative thereto,

(b) a storage spool removably mounted on one of said shafts forreceiving and storing a continuously moving filament,

(c) an accumulator mounted on the other of said shafts axially adjacentto said storage spool for receiving said filament during the removal andreplacement of said spool, and

(d) disengageable drive means for selectively imparting rotary motion tosaid solid shaft or said hollow shaft, whereby said shafts may be drivenindependently of each other for rotating and stopping said storage spooland said accumulator.

3. Filament winding apparatus comprising:

(a) drive shaft means comprising:

(1) a hollow cylindrical shaft mounted for rotary ment, and

(2) a solid cylindrical shaft mounted within said hollow shaft for freerotary movement relative thereto,

(b) a storage spool removably mounted on said solid shaft for receivingand storing a continuously moving filament,

(c) an accumulator mounted on said hollow shaft axially adjacent to saidstorage spool for receiving said filament during the removal andreplacement of said spool, and

(d) disengageable drive means for selectively imparting rotary motion tosaid solid shaft. or said hollow shaft whereby said shafts may be drivenindependently of each other for rotating and stopping said storage spooland accumulator.

8 4. Filament winding apparatus comprising: (a) drive shaft meanscomprising: a

(1) a hollow cylindrical shaft mounted for free rotary movement and a(2) a solidcylindrical shaft mounted within said hollow shaft for freerotary movement relative thereto,

(b) a storage spool removably mountedon said solid shaft for receivingand storing a continuously moving filament,

(c) an accumulator removably mounted on said hollow shaft axiallyadjacent to said storage spool for receiving said filament during theremoval and replacement of said spool,

(d) a drive means having a rotatable shaft,

(e) disengageable means for selectively imparting rotary motion to saidsolid shaft or said hollow shaft whereby said hollow shaft and saidsolid shaft may be driven independently of each other for rotating andstopping said storage spool and said accumulator, said disengageablemeans comprising:

(1) first rotary motion transmitting means to transmit rotary motionfrom said rotatable shaft to said hollow shaft, and

(2) second rotary motion transmitting means to transmit rotary motionfrom said rotatable shaft to said solid shaft. 5. Filament windingapparatus comprising: (a) drive shaft means comprising:

(1) a hollow cylindrical shaft mounted for free rotary movement, and

(2) a solid cylindrical shaft mounted within said hollow shaft for freerotary movement relative thereto,

(b) a storage spool removably mounted on said solid shaft for receivingand storing a continuously moving filament,

(c) an accumulator removably mounted on said hollow shaft axiallyadjacent to said storage spool for receiving said filament during theremoval and replacement of said spool,

(d) a first friction wheel mounted on said solid shaft,

(e) a second friction wheel mounted on said hollow shaft, 7

(f) a drive means having a rotatable shaft,

(g) a third friction wheel mounted on said rotatable shaft, and l (h)disengageable means for selectively imparting ro tary motion to saidsolid shaft or said hollow shaft whereby said solid shaft and saidhollow shaft may be rotated independently of each other for rotating andstopping said storage spool and said accumulator, said disengageablemeans comprising:

(1) a first friction idler movable into coincident engagement with saidfirst friction wheel and said third friction wheel, and

(2) a second friction idler movable into coincident engageament withsaid second friction wheel and said third friction wheel.

6. Filament winding apparatus comprising:

(a) drive shaft means comprising:

(1) a hollow cylindrical shaft mounted for rotary movement and having afirst end and a second end,

(2) a solid cylindrical shaft mounted within said hollow shaft for freerotary movement relative thereto and having a first end and a secondend,

(b) a storage spool removably mounted on said solid shaft near saidfirst end thereof for receiving and storing a continuously movingfilament,

(c) an accumulator mounted on said hollow shaft near said first endthereof axially adjacent to said storage spool for receiving saidfilament during the removal and replacement of said spool,

(d) a first friction wheel mounted on said solid shaft near said secondend thereof,

(e) a second friction wheel mounted on said hollow shaft near saidsecond end thereof,

(f) drive means including a rotatable shaft,

(g) a third friction wheel mounted on said rotatable shaft, and i (h)disengageable means for selectively imparting rotary motion to saidsolid shaft or said hollow shaft whereby said solid shaft and saidhollow shaft may be driven independently of each other for rotating andstopping said storage spool and said accumulator, said disengageablemeans comprising:

(1) a first friction idler movable into coincident engagement with saidfirst friction wheel and said third friction wheel, and

(2) a second friction idler movable into coincident engagement with saidsecond friction wheel and said third friction wheel.

7. The invention defined in claim '1 wherein said accumulator comprisesa member having a plurality of sively in diameter toward said storagespool.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Worth 242-865Peck 74-206 Hosford 242-25 Hargreaves et al. 242-25 Fornwald 242-25Hogan 58-395 X Frankwich 242-25 Moomaw 74-206 Hauck et al. 242-25 Lewis242-83 Klinksiek 242-25 Examiners.

2. FILAMENT WINDING APPARATUS COMPRISING: (A) DRIVE SHAFT MEANSCOMPRISING: (1) A HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL SHAFT MOUNTED FOR ROTARY MOVEMENT,AND (2) A SOLID CYLINDRICAL SHAFT MOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOLLOW SHAFT FORFREE ROTARY MOVEMENT RELATIVE THERETO, (B) A STORAGE SPOOL REMOVABLYMOUNTED ON ONE OF SAID SHAFTS FOR RECEIVING AND STORING A CONTINUOUSLYMOVING FILAMENT, (C) AN ACCUMULATOR MOUNTED ON THE OTHER OF SAID SHAFTSAXIALLY ADJACENT TO SAID STORAGE SPOOL FOR RECEIVING SAID FILAMENTDURING THE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF SAID SPOOL, AND (D) DISENGAGEABLEDRIVE MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY IMPARTING ROTARY MOTION TO SAID SHAFT ORSAID HOLLOW SHAFT, WHEREBY SAID SHAFTS MAY BE DRIVEN INDEPENDENTLY OFEACH OTHER FOR ROTATING AND STOPPING SAID STORAGE SPOOL AND SAIDACCUMULATOR.